For the past two years, our summer fishing trips have been virtual washouts, plagued by typhoons and torrential rains that made fishing nearly impossible. This year, with yet another typhoon brewing and record-breaking rainfall hitting various parts of Japan, we were bracing for the worst. However, fortune finally smiled upon us, allowing us to enjoy a fantastic trip combining mountain stream trout fishing and an inshore boat rockfish game.
Part 1: Mountain Stream Trout Therapy
Our trip began in the northern Tohoku region, with a roughly three-hour session in a beautiful mountain stream. It had been a while since my last stream trout outing, and the excitement was palpable.
Tackle Setup:
- Rod: Megabass Great Hunting Huntsman
- Reel: Megabass Lauda
- Line: Varivas Super Trout Advance Bait Finesse PE X4 #0.5
- Leader: Varivas Super Trout Advance Extreme Shock Leader Nylon 6lb
- Lures: Ito Craft Bowie, Megabass GH Humpback, Smith AR-S and so on
The first to strike my twitching minnow was a beautiful char (Iwana) measuring around 30cm. Although a bit lean, it was a powerful fighter that put up a great struggle. Following that initial success, I had a series of bites from smaller char and cherry trout (Yamame), but I struggled to get a solid hookset.
Switching over to a Smith AR-S spinner, I was rewarded with another nice-sized char. The action continued with several more beautiful cherry trout coming to the net. After a long wait, it was an incredibly satisfying and successful day in the mountains.
Part 2: Inshore Rockfish Battle on the Sanriku Coast
The following day, we headed to a small port on the famous ria coast of Sanriku for a three-hour inshore boat rockfish game. This was another fishery I hadn't experienced in three years, and I couldn't contain my excitement.
Tackle Setups:
- Free Rig:
- Rod: Megabass Destroyer P5 F7.1/2-71X Super Seven Eleven
- Reel: Daiwa IMZ 200HL-C
- Line: Toray Freedom FC 20lb
- Spinnerbait:
- Rod: Megabass Evoluzion MX40 F5.1/2-68ti Diablo
- Reel: Shimano Curado
- Line: Toray Freedom FC 20lb
- Search Baits/Crankbaits:
- Rod: Megabass VALKYRIE World Expedition VKC-65MH-4
- Reel: Shimano SLX DC
- Line: VARIVAS Rock On Fluoro 12lb
According to pre-fishing information and local fishermen, the greenling (Ainame) population has been struggling for the past few years. We experienced this firsthand, getting bites but failing to connect. Strangely, our soft plastic baits were being sharply bitten and torn, something I had never encountered in these waters before.
With time running out, I felt a huge strike followed by a powerful pull. The thrilling sensation of the fish shaking its head was exactly what I had been waiting for! After a tense battle, I landed our target fish – a greenling around 40cm. We added a smaller rockfish (Soi) to the tally before our time was up.
The word is that rising water temperatures in recent years have led to an increase in blue-runners, while the rockfish numbers have declined.
Despite the challenges, we were thrilled to have finally enjoyed both freshwater and saltwater fishing this year. It was a fantastic trip, but it has left us hungry for more. We're already dreaming of catching even more next time!
